Ducks at Coyotes
The Anaheim Ducks try to build on their strong season opener and keep their special teams rolling when they visit the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. Anaheim went 2-for-3 with a man advantage while killing all three San Jose power-play opportunities in a 5-2 victory Wednesday that also featured 31 saves by John Gibson, who is likely the ultimate key to the Ducks' success in 2018-19.
"Not the prettiest win but we found a way," Ducks center Adam Henrique, who recorded a goal and an assist, told reporters. "We stuck to our game, kept pushing and found a way. Special teams came up big for us and Gibby came up big for us to and kept us in it the first two periods." Anaheim also received a boost from young players such as 19-year-old Max Comtois, who scored on his first NHL shot and told reporters: "Wouldn't believe it if you had said that to me before the game." Arizona, meanwhile, appears headed for another long rebuilding season after a 3-0 loss at Dallas on Thursday and coach Rick Tocchet hopes his club isn't headed for another 0-10-1 start like it endured last season. "It's the first game of the year, but it's something that we can't let linger,'' Tocchet told reporters. "Some guys were just pretty tentative out there."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Anaheim), FS Arizona
ABOUT THE DUCKS (1-0-0): Anaheim's top line of center Ryan Getzlaf (two assists), along with wingers Rickard Rakell (goal, two assists) and rookie Troy Terry had a productive night versus San Jose. Sam Steel and Kiefer Sherwood also made their NHL debuts Wednesday with Sherwood recording an assist as the young players get playing opportunities with the absence of Ondrej Kase (concussion), Ryan Kesler (hip), Nick Ritchie (holdout), Corey Perry (knee) and Patrick Eaves (shoulder). "They played well," Gibson told reporters about the rookies. "You see we're a lot faster, and I think they contributed a big part of that."
ABOUT THE COYOTES (0-1-0): Arizona hopes its luck doesn't stay bad as Clayton Keller (team highs of 23 goals and 65 points during 2017-18 rookie season) and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson each hit a post Thursday. "It's frustrating, for sure," Ekman-Larsson told reporters. "At the same time, I don't think we deserved to win. ..." Forward Nick Cousins recorded a team-high six shots on goal and three hits but was a minus-2 on Thursday.
OVERTIME
1. Ducks LW Jakob Silfverberg on Wednesday recorded his first three-assist game since April 1, 2015. Silfverberg had 17 goals and 23 assists last season.
2. Coyotes G Antti Raanta (21-17-6, 2.24, .930 in a career-high 47 games last season) made 22 saves Thursday as he begins his second season with Arizona.
3. Anaheim won three of four meetings in each of the last two seasons and have prevailed in eight of the last 10 encounters.